State helping communities contend with ash borer

June 28, 2013

Federal grant funds are available to assist northern Ohio communities in removing hazardous ash trees along public rights-of-way, according to the Ohio

Department of Natural Resources.

"Grant funding totaling $300,000 will help northern Ohio communities address the damage caused by the non-native emerald ash borer as it continues to impact the region," said Robert Boyles, state forester and chief of the ODNR Division of Forestry. "The loss of ash trees in northern Ohio is not only environmentally and economically damaging, but dead and dying trees pose a safety hazard to anyone living or traveling on ash tree-lined streets."

Since EAB was discovered in northwest Ohio in 2003, millions of ash trees have been killed by this insect, which can claim the life of an otherwise healthy, mature tree in as little as one year.

Due to the insect's spread, many Ohio communities are confronted with the expense of dead ash tree removal and replacement.